Karnataka Minister Slams BJP on Governance, Metro Fares, and Trade Imbalances

Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge criticizes the BJP on issues like restricted parliamentary debates, metro fare policies, and trade imbalances. He questions policies around the Bharat Ratna award and India-USA trade deals, raising concerns about governance, accountability, and transparency.

In a scathing critique, Karnataka Minister for Electronics Priyank Kharge took aim at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, addressing key governance issues including parliamentary debate restrictions and metro fare policies in Bengaluru. Kharge expressed his concerns during an interview with ANI, touching also on historical narratives surrounding Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Kharge questioned the Speaker of the House's suggestion that women MPs might attack the Prime Minister during parliamentary sessions, calling into question the intelligence of such remarks when compared to Home Minister Amit Shah. He also slammed BJP MP Tejasvi Surya regarding metro fare hikes, accusing the central committee of inconsistent credit and blame attribution between PM Modi and state-level governance.

Further, Kharge interrogated the government's motivation behind awarding the Bharat Ratna to Savarkar, asking why Savarkar accepted a pension from the British government and did not participate in the freedom struggle. He labeled the India-USA trade deal as a "GST Bachao Utsav," criticizing it for a trade imbalance with lowered tariffs on Indian goods against zero tariffs on American products.

(With inputs from agencies.)